Kyuhyun falls in love with a girl in his sixteenth year. She’s pretty as new-fallen snow and everything she says is reasonable in a way that sets his heart at ease, and he thinks he could be happy with her. He makes plans to ask for her hand in the autumn, just as soon as he’s returned from building a homestead for them. He’s diligent, he works hard, and he returns to her family’s ranch to find it empty.

There’s no note. Townsfolk say the ranch had been on hard times. No one was surprised to find the family gone – no one but Kyuhyun, with an empty home of his own and not a soul to live there.

By the end of the night, two things have changed: firstly, he no longer owns property. Some cowboy with a lucky hand at poker now owns his property. Secondly, Kyuhyun has learned that he is terrible at playing cards.

But he is really, really good at cheating.

Thing is, nobody can catch him, not unless they’re thinking faster. And Kyuhyun doubts that anyone is thinking faster, especially as intoxicated as they tend to be, all but the seasoned players. Even they can’t catch Kyuhyun at cheating unless they were to find a card up his sleeve or worse, but they never do. It’s just so easy to guess what they’ve got in their hands, that’s all. A certain number of cards, certain patterns that are more likely than others; it’s all numbers. And it ain’t deceiving, can’t even be called cheating, it’s just that he’s smarter than the rest of ‘em.

That was a good while ago, and Kyuhyun got on that way just fine. He threw them off every now and again, making sure to lose a good pot, but he’d clean them up in another town or bar later so it hardly mattered. He rarely went hungry or without a roof over his head.

The night he gets into his first real scuffle, well, that was the only time Kyuhyun ever, ever had to rely on the good lady Luck. A fumble with his second-hand pistol, another gambler’s bullet jammed in the chamber of his own, and Kyuhyun was a free man.

Killing was easy. Right up until the moment it wasn’t.

The artist’s drawing of his face is, thankfully, quite bad. Not bad enough that Kyuhyun isn’t recognizable as a wanted man, and the thing of it is, living that life wasn’t even a hardship. He practiced gunslinging, he thought on his feet, and he figured he’d up one day and wind up the dead one. But what else was he supposed to do about it?

Middle of the summer in his twenty-second year, Kyuhyun’s wandering on foot to the east, trying to make town by sunset when he’s suddenly surrounded. Three men flanking him on all sides, and damn, he thought he hadn’t been followed.

“Gentlemen,” he said, nodding politely. “How can I help you this fine day?”

“Shut up,” one of them grunts out.

“What? Cranky? Come on. You should be happy. I can’t overpower three of you.” His fingers play at the handle of his revolver anyway. Just in case. Hell, he’s not going to die without trying.

“You’re wanted alive,” calls one from his left. “But dead will do if we have to.”

Kyuhyun slides his hand away from the gun. He should put them in the air, but can’t bring himself to do it.

The first man, the cranky with no manners, advances forward. Kyuhyun’s heart kicks up a bit and he tries to think clearly – casts his eyes around for an idea, but there’s nothing.

“What’s going on over there?” calls a new voice. He’s on horseback a ways off, and Kyuhyun squints but doesn’t recognize him when he swings out of the saddle and paces closer.

“None of your damn business.”

“Looks like my business, actually.” He nods his head toward Kyuhyun. “That’s my money you’re surrounding.”

There’s a pause as the men all mull this thought over. It’s a pause that takes too long, because the newcomer suddenly moves, three quick shots rend the air and the men all hit the dirt.

Kyuhyun wonders if he should run. He doesn’t. He waits until the dust settles, and when the gunslinger hasn’t moved, says, “Thanks.”

The man’s boots crunch quietly in the dirt. He’s shorter than Kyuhyun, looks younger, though it’s hard to tell. He’s got a round face and hard eyes, and he looks over Kyuhyun calculatingly. “You’re a wanted man, Spades.”

“So I hear.” Spades. Not very imaginative, but it’s what’s printed across all his wanted posters.

“Listen,” says Baby Face, “They want you alive so they can kill you by law. Understand?”

Kyuhyun twits his mouth in displeasure. “I had an inkling.”

“So you have a couple choices. You can try to run, in which case I kill you and lose my reward. Or you can come with me quietly.”

“Why delay the inevitable?”

Baby Face smiles. It’s not a sneer, but his eyes are still hard despite the sweet expression. “Thought so. But see, I want my money. So how about a deal.”

Kyuhyun frowns. In any other situation, trusting a stranger – trusting a bounty hunter to boot – would be insane. But he’s stuck fast between a rock and a hard place, so he bites. “What deal?”

“Come with me. I turn you in, collect my money, and they’ll take you to the gallows.”

“How is this – “

“I never miss.” He lifts his pistol.

It takes Kyuhyun a minute to understand that it’s not a threat. “You mean… ?”

“I can shoot at distance, even small targets. Like a rope.”

Like a noose.

It’s not a tough dec